US2004684A - Swimming glove - Google Patents

Description

June 11, 1935. E. B, BELL 2,004,684

SWIMMING GLOVE Filed Jul 26, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l nvenior Ea/d &5. (56// i Patented June 11, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE SWIMMING GLOVE Earl B. Bell, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application July 26, 1933, Serial No. 682341 1 Claim.

This invention relates to an improved thin flexible rubber form fitting glove of the multiple web type designated to be worn by swimmers and expressly fashioned to facilitate swimming by the user thereof.

Needless to say I am well aware that a glove of this general style and variety is not broadly new. In fact I am generally familiar with the state of the art to which the invention relates and for this very reason have evolved and produced a more satisfactory type of swimming glove characterized by certain structural refinements and improvements calculated to benefit the user of this particular improved glove.

For example whereas prior patented gloves of this classification embody special wrist formation equipped with inconvenient fastening devices, I have perfected a glove having an endless wrist band conformable to the wrist of the wearer and adapted to fit snugly in place so as to obviate the necessity of using straps and similar unhandy and substantially unusable fastening.

Secondly I have evolved and produced a swimming glove whose palm portion is imperforate and whose back portion is formed with an appreciably large opening bounded by a reinforcing bead and adapted to expose the knuckle and adjacent portion of the hand to facilitate unhampered manipulation thereof in and out of the water.

A further feature and advantage is predicated upon the adoptionand use of snug fitting seam- `less finger stalls joined together by collapsible webs wherein the extreme tips or terminal of said stalls are provided with holes which serve as vents to facilitate application and removal of the glove and also provide means for draining water and sand which may accumulate in said finger stalls.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a glove constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention observing the back face thereof.

Figure 2 is a similar plan view showing the web stretched and illustrating the palm side or face of the glove.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken approximately on the plane of the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view through one of the flnger stalls.

Referring to the glove as a unit it will be observed that it is denoted by the numeral 5. In practice it is made from thin flexible rubber adapted for a skin tight fit on the hand of the V user. As shown in Figure 2 the palm portion 6 is smooth and imperforate. A shown in Figure 1 the back or rear face is provided with a substantially rectangular opening 'I whose marginal edge is provided with a reinforcing roller bead 8. Incidentally this opening 'I is adapted to expose back of the hand and to allow protrusion of the knuckles to facilitatebending of the hand and to otherwise expedite manipula tion while in and out of the water. The glove may be said to comprise a one-piece hand covering and it is so made as to form an endless wrist band or wristlet 9 provided With a retention bead u. This obviates the necessity of the' provision of strap and similar separable fasteners at this particular point and permits the wristlet to snugly conform and encircle the wrist of the user. Incidentally prior art devices having special fastening devices have been diflicult to handle in putting the gloves on and taking the gloves off as is obvious. Hence the beaded endless expansible and contractible wrist band 9 affords a more effective and close fitting arrangement calculated to better fulflll the requirements of this aspect of the invention,

The hand covering also embodies a plurality of individual finger stalls denoted by the numeral I I. Incidentally the term finger' is intended to comprehend all five of the finger receiving stalls. In other words it appears to be apparently unnecessary to differentiate the "thumb" stall and for convenience all of the parts I l are referred to as stalls. These finger stalls are joined together by' flexible imperforate webs |2 the webs being of a fexible variety to permit the finger stalls to be brought together in close spaced parallelism or spread apart such as is necessary in making forward and return strokes while swimming.

All of the finger stalls are provided at their terminals or tips with apertures !3. These apertures serve primarily as vents to relieve the air while applying and removing the glove. Without these openings l3 the air would become pocketed making it difficult to slip the gloves on and there after take the gloves oif. i

It will be evident to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains that the improved glove is characterized by three interesting improvements. First the apertures |3 in the pits of the finger stalls constitute the salient feature of the invention. These may be reinforced by beads or not and they not only function as vents to facilltate air release while applying and removing the glove but also constitute outlets in the sense that they may be utilized as drains for removing sand, dirt and water accumulations from the finger stalls. wrist band 9 with its reinforcin'g beads o to facilitate its position and retention is an important feature of distinction. Third the relatively large opening 'I in the back of the glove in contrast with the imperforate palm portion 6 and the surrounding reinforcing bead 8 prvides a further refinement calculated to enable the glove to better fulfill the requirement' of a commodity of this type.

A careful consideration of the foregoing description in conjunction with the illustrative drawings will enable the reader to obtain a clear understanding of the purpose, features and advantages, the explicit Construction, and the invention as hereinafter claimed.

It is to be understood that minor changes in shape, size, relative proportions, and materials may be resorted to in practice: without departing froni the spirit oi: the invention or the scope of the invention as now claimed.

.Having thus described my invention, what I claim. as new is:

Scondly' the endless elastic A swimming glove of the class described comprising a body part, finger and thumb stalls and' webs -comiecting the stalls together, said glove being of one-piece Construction and formed of thin rubber the stalls having openings in their ends and that part of the glove which covers the back of the hand having a single substantially rectangular-shaped opening therein, the side walls of which are spaced inwardly from the side edges of the g1ove,`the front wall being spaced inwardly from the inner ends of the finger stalls, and the rear wall of which is spaced an appreciable 'distance from the rear end of the glove, that part of the glove between the rear wall of the opening and the rear end of the glove forming with the rest of the rear portion of the glove an endless wrist engaging portion, said wrist engaging portion being of short length and of a width but slightly less than the width of. the rest of the glove, the 'finger openings, the rectangular opening and the rear end of the glove all being formed with marginal reinforcing beads.

- EARL B. BELL.

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